Bottle cooling apparatus



Jame & 1948. R TULL AL 2,442,882

BOTTLE COOLING APPARATUS Filed March 3, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l 55 A 2? 2 #5 L 73 A & J WITNZEZS; 5'5 IG g I W i gigs 3 June 1948. R. H. TULL ETAL 2,442,882

BOTTLE COOLING APPARATUS Filed March 3, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR l/V. flea/To Patented June 8, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BOTTLE COOLING APPARATUS Robert H. Tull, Elo- C. Tanner, and William Ardito, Springfield, Mass., assignors to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application March 3, 1942, Serial No. 433,164

from the walls of the cooling cabinet and through the storage chamber of the cabinet.

A further object is to provide air baiiies which distribute the stream of cooling air uniformly through the storage chambers.

A still further object of the invention is to provide heat breaks between the air battles in the cabinet and the cooling unit.

These and other objects are effected by our invention as will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. l is a cross-sectional view of the refrigerator cabinet of this invention, the view being taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the refrigerator cabinet of Fig. l with the doors removed and parts of the cabinet broken away; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional viewon the line III-III of Pie. 1.

Referring to the drawings for a detailed description of the invention, the reference numeral '5' designates the outer sheet metal shell of the refrigerator cabinet. A horizontal sheet metal partition 8 divides the cabinet into an upper refrigerated compartment 9 and a machine compartment ii located beneath the upper compartment 9. The upper compartment 9 has an inner sheet metal liner l2 which is spaced from the outer shell 7 and the partition 8, and heat insulating material it is packed between the inner liner i2 and the upper portion of the outer shell 1 and the partition 8. The upper compartment i2 is rectangular and comprises two side walls M, two end walls l5, and a bottom wall It.

The upper wall I! of the cabinet includes a horizontal wall portion ll! of a construction similar to that of the side walls of the upper compartment 9. which wall portion i8 is secured to the side walls It of the upper compartment 9 and spaced from the end walls I5 thereof to define two access openings iii to the cabinet. Each of the access openings i9 is closed by an insulated door 2 I.

An inverted U-shaped shroud 22 is secured in 4 Claims. (Cl. 62102) the central portion of the upper compartment 9 directly beneath the wall portion IS, the ends of the shroud 22 extending to the side walls M. The shroud 22 is supported by brackets 23 secured to the side walls M of the upper compartment 9. The lower edges of the shroud 22 are spaced from the bottom wall iii of the upper compartment 9, and the upper surface of the shroud 22 v is spaced from the wall portion l8 and is provided with a large central opening 24.

A cooling unit 25 is secured in the shroud 22 a spaced distance from the upper surface thereof by screws 26. The cooling unit 25 comprises a series of parallel and spaced-apart metal plates 21 through which a refrigerant carrying tube 28 is passed back and forth. The cooling unit 25 is also spaced from the shroud 22 to prevent bottles of liquid placed adjacent to the shroud 22 from freezing. A fan 3|, driven by 'an electric motor 32, is secured by straps 33 and a yoke 34 between the cooling unit 25 and the upper wall of the shroud 22, the fan 3| registering with the central opening 24 in the upper wall of the shroud 22.

The cooling unit 25 is of the evaporative type and is supplied with liquid refrigerant through a capillary tube 31 from a condenser 38. A compressor 39 withdraws the refrigerant vapor from the cooling unit 25 through a suction tube il, compresses the vapor, and passes it to the condenser 38 through a tube 42. The compressor 39 is driven by an electric motor :33, and both the motor 33 and the compressor 39 are housed. in a sealed case M. The electric motor i3 is supplied with electrical energy from lines li'l, and in one of the lines ll, an electric switch 68 is located which regulates the starting and the stopping of the electric motor 63 to keep the temperature in the refrigerated food-storage compartment substantially constant.

- A wire rack 52 is located in each of the storage compartments 9. The wire rack 52 carries a C- shaped plate which lies with its rear edge Ml adjacent one of the lower edges of the shroud 22. The c-shaped plate 53 together with horizontal bars 56 of the wire rack 52 forms a platform which is elevated from the bottom of the refrigerated compartment l2 by legs 58. The packaged beverages which are to be cooled may be placed on the platform in a vertical or in a corded position.

A substantially horizontal bafiie 6| is supported by two vertical end plates 62 on the upper 'surface of the shroud 22 to lie adjacent to but spaced from the upper wall portion I8. The

3 edges 63 of the baflile GI are bent downwardly to deflect the air from the underside of the doors 2| and through the bottle compartment.

In operation, the fan 3| draws the air from the refrigerated compartment upwardly between plates 21 of the cooling unit 25 and circulates it through the opening 24 in the upper wall of the shroud 22. The current of air passing upwardly through the opening 24 is deflected away from the wall portion l8 and from the doors 2i by the baflle 6| to flow across and diagonally downwardly through each of the food-storage chambers of the refrigerator compartment 9. The air thereafter flows underneath the plate 53 to the lower edges of the cooling unit 25 and recirculates through the cooling unit 25. The plate 53 is C-shaped or notched out at the free edge in order to provide a more uniform air flow over the articles stored on the platform 53, 56. The inertia of the air issuing from beneath the bafiile 63 tends to carry the air toward the end walls l of the upper compartment I I so that the notchedout portion is needed to draw the air downward in the central portion of each of the storage spaces to secure a uniform distribution of the air flow. The bafile 63, in addition to deflecting the air into the storage compartments prevents the air from absorbing heat from the wall portion is and the doors 2 l. The bafile 63, together with the upper wall of the shroud 22 also forms a nozzle which directs the refrigerated air away from the access openings i9 30 that the refrigerated air is not forced out of the compartment I2 when either of the doors 2| is opened.

The temperature of the refrigerated compartment i held substantially constant by a thermostat which includes a bulb 66 containing a volatile fluid, the vapor pressure of which is transmitted through a tube 61 to a switch (not shown) located in a housing 68. The vapor pressure of the liquid in the bulb 66 closes the switch when the temperature of the bulb 6B exceeds a predetermined limit and permits the switch to open again when said temperature drops below a predetermined limit. The bulb 6B is located below the platform 53 so that on opening either of the doors 2| of the refrigerated compartment, the bulb 66 will be shielded from the warm air which may enter through the access opening so that the refrigerating unit is not started each time one of the doors 2| is opened.

It will be apparent from the above that this invention provides a balanced air circulating path especially adapted for use in large coolers for packaged beverages. It will be further apparent that the interior cooling and baffling walls of the refrigerator are spaced from the walls of the cabinet to reduce the conduction of heat from the walls to the interior of the cabinet and that a baifie is provided which deflects the stream of cool air issuing from the cooling unit away from the top wall of the cabinet and directs it to the articles stored in the storage chamber of the refrigerator cabinet.

While we have shown our invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and we desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. In a dry cooler for packaged beverages, the combination of an insulated cabinet having two side and two end walls, a bottom wall, and a top wall normally closed by a movable closure member, a cooling unit in said cabinet and spaced from the top wall and from each of said end walls and extending substantially from one side wall to the other to define a storage space between said cooling unit and each of said end walls, said cooling unit having vertical air passages therein, a fan for circulating air upwardly through the air passages of the cooling unit, a deflector disposed above' the cooling unit and spaced from the top wall of the cabinet, said deflector being formed with downwardly-curved outer ends to direct the air passing upwardly through the cooling unit toward each of the end walls and away from the top wall, and a substantially imperiorate platform in each of said storage spaces spaced from the bottom wall and the end walls of the cabinet, each platform having edge portions adjacent the cooling unit and the side walls of the cabinet, the vertical air passages in the cooling unit communicating with the space below the platform, whereby the air in said cabinet may be circulated upwardly through said cooling unit by said fan and may be divided into two air streams each of which may flow diagonally downwardly through one of said storage spaces and then underneath the platform to the cooling unit.

2. In a dry cooler for packaged beverages, the combination of an insulated cabinet having side and end walls and a top and a bottom wall, a cooling unit in said cabinet spaced from the top and .from the end walls thereof and extending substantially from one side wall to the other to provide a storage chamber between the cooling unit and each of said end walls, said cooling unit having vertical air passages therein, a fan for circulating air upwardly through the air passages of the cooling unit, and a substantially imperforate platform in each of said storage chambers, said imperforate platform being spaced from the bottom wall and from the nearest end wall of said cabinet and having an edge adjacent to the cooling unit and a second edge near but spaced from the end wall of the storage chamber in which said platform is located, said lastnamed edge having a cut-away portion extending toward the cooling unit to provide an air passage at the outer edge of said imperforate platform, whereby the air in said chamber may be circulated upwardly through said cooling unit by said fan and may be divided into two streams each of which may flow diagonally downwardly and substantially uniformly through one of said storage chambers and then underneath the platform located therein to the vertical air passages of the cooling unit.

3. In a dry cooler for packaged beverages, the combination of an insulated cabinet having two side and two end Walls, a bottom wall, and a top wall, a cooling unit in said cabinet and spaced.

from the top wall and from each of said end walls, the top wall of said cabinet having an access opening for each of said storage spaces, a cover for each of said access openings, said cooling unit having vertical air passages therein, a vertical bafile adjacent the cooling unit on each side thereof to define a vertical air duct between said bailles, said baflles being spaced from the top wall and the bottom wall of said cabinet and extending substantially from one side wall thereof to the other to define a storage space between each of said battles and the respective end wall of the cabinet, a fan for circulating air upwardly through said vertical air duct, a deflector over said air duct and spaced from said vertical baiiies to define a nomle therewith for each of said storage spaces, said deflector being formed with downwardly-curved outer ends to direct the air passing upwardly through the air duct toward each of the end walls of the cabinet and away from each of said access openings, and a substantially imperforate platform in each of said storage spaces, each of said platforms being adjacent to but spaced trom'the bottom wall and the respective end wall of the cabinet and contiguous with the vertical bailie nearest to said platform to define together with the bottom and side walls of the cabinet, two horizontal air return ducts communicating with said vertical air duct at its lower end.

4. In a dry cooler for packaged beverages, the combination of an insulated cabinet having two side and two end walls, a bottom wall. and a top wall, a cooling unit in said cabinet and spaced fromthetopwallandiromeachofsaidend walls, the top wall of said cabinet having an access opening tor each of said storage spaces, a cover for each of said access openings, said cooling imit having vertical air passages therein, a vertical baifle adjacent the cooling unit on each side thereof to define a vertical air duct between said homes, said bellies being spaced from the top wall and the bottom wall of said cabinet and extending substantially from one side wall thereof to the other to define a storage space between each of said bailes and the respective end wall of thecabinet,afaniorclrculatingairnpwardly through said vertical air duct, a deflector over said air duct and spaced from said vertical bellies a 6 to define a nozzle therewith for each of said storage spaces, said deflector being formed with downwardly-mined outer ends to direct the air passing upwardly through the air duct toward each of the end walls of the cabinet and away from each of said access openings, and a substantially imperforate platform in each of said storage spaces, each of said platforms being adjacent to but spaced from the bottom wall and the respective end wall of the cabinet and contiguous REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iiie of this patent:

UNITED STATES PA'I'ENTS Number Name Date 2,144,248 Vancott Jam 17, 1939 2,187,061 smith Jan- 16, 1940 2,220,528 Tanner May 6, 1941 2,250,557 Tull July 29, 1941 2,250,812 Tanner July 29, 1911 2,252,010 Kraekowizer Aug. 12, 1911 

